A rare sight - Mini 850 RHD in Switzerland

It is not often you see an original Mini on the roads these days, let alone one outside of the UK.

This little gem was parked outside our block the other day. for a car that is almost 30+ years old, it has survived the Swiss winters and was in very good shape.

Most significantly, it was also in RHD - are rarity in Switzerland. I have seen a few old Mini's around and they have been with LHD, so imported in from BL at the time of making.

For me, this car is still the epitome of affordable motoring. Seats four, a boot (OK, a little small on the boot space), and will get you from A to B. with a little bit oc character.

Today’s version – and blinded by the BMW marketing machine – is nothing more than a 1-Series. Small and affordable was the original Mini – two doors and sometimes an estate. Now you get a 4-door ‘Cooper’ Diesel – so much for heritage……

Opel collection - expanding the garage for next to nothing.

By sheer fluke, I popped into Kiosk on Sat a couple of weeks ago (CH Newsagent chain), and whilst having a quick looked at the magazines on offer, my eyes were promptly drawn to the Opel Collection.



The first mag is €4.99 (CHF9.50) – which is for the Commodore GS/A, with subsequent issues being €12.99 (CHF24.99), and like most of these type offerings, grow in to a collection over a great number of weeks. The collection is available in the German speaking areas of Europe – so that is Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and to date the series will span 20 models.

The first model is as per below, which is an Opel Commodore GS/A Coupe. What is good, is that the publisher clearly states who the manufacturer is of the model, and in this case, it is IXO Models. I need not go on about them, but suffice to say, stamp of approval. A well detailed model that exacts how it was built when it first came off the production line. Well detailed tampos and accurate proportions make this one of the bargains of 2011 so far…..

Now for those of you – like me – have grown up on Vauxhall, this looks to be a great set to collect. There are a few cars that don’t really appeal, such as the P1 Kapitan, and Olympia Rekord, all of which where made in the 1950’s, which is not my era of collecting so there will be some weeks where I will simply not get the next model in the series – little point of spending the cash when it can on summat that you are not really keen on when you can put that money towards summat you actually want as part of the 1/43 garage.

Some model highlights include :
6. 1951 - 1953 OPEL OLYMPIA
7. 1989 - 1992 OPEL LOTUS OMEGA
(normal language: Vauxhall Lotus Carlton – remember that 1991 beast with 380BHP and 180mph unrestricted, which made the Sierra Cossie look like a 2CV….)
8. 1957 - 1960 OPEL OLYMPIA REKORD P1 4-doors
9. 1992 - 1998 OPEL ASTRA F CABRIOLET
10. 1973 - 1977 OPEL REKORD D 2100 DIESEL
11. 1977 - 1979 OPEL KADETT C GT/E COUPE
12. 1975 - 1988 OPEL MANTA B/ GTE
13. 1935 - 1937 OPEL P4
14. 1953 - 1955 OPEL KAPITÄN
15. 1963 - 1965 OPEL KADETT A COUPE
16. 1972 - 1977 OPEL COMMODORE B GS/E
17. 1990 - 1997 OPEL CALIBRA V6
18. 1974 - 1975 OPEL MANTA A GT/E
19. 1959 - 1963 OPEL KAPITÄN P II
20. 1966 - 1970 OPEL KADETT B RALLYE COUPE

I am hoping that the range will become easily available within kiosk in Switzerland – as stated before, unless you are a completest, i see there no need to “collect” models that do not appeal to the individual.

As they come available, i hope to review the ones that i like the look of. The models from the 1970s to 1990s are the ones that really stand out for me.

Overall, €12.99/CHF24.99 for a good quality 1/43 model every two weeks I think is great VFM. If you think about it, 1/43’s normally hit the €28-40 mark. As I mentioned before, unless you are a total Opel nut, this is quite a good series to pick and choose the models that suite the period that you collect.

Further details on the collection can be found here:
HTTP://WWW.OPEL-SAMMLUNG.DE/INDEX.HTML

Careful: website is all in German!

Bburago madness.....

I have cracked - I had a sudden rush of blood to my head and have now started to acquire the 1/43 Bburago range that is easily available all over Switzerland. In the last 72 hours, I must have spend over CHF100 on them, but have added around 15 new models the "garage".

As of early 2007, the company has been relaunched. It is now owned by the May Cheong Group which markets Maisto, so the company now has an issue analogous to Mattel owning both Hot Wheels and Matchbox. In order for both lines to be successful they must be differentiated in some manner. May Cheong's answer is to make Burago's offerings more European. A count from the two brands websites in 2011 confirms the two approaches. Out of 64 1/18 scale cars, Bburago only has 6 models that are not European - or 9 percent. Maisto, with 113 total 1/18 scale models, on the other hand, has 53 or 47 percent non-European. May Cheong is betting internal competition will be avoided by having the Maisto brand oriented at more global offerings. Many of the Bburago models being made at the time of the May Cheong takeover are now being produced again in Thailand and China, along with numerous new castings. By 2011, some models, like the smaller scale "Race and Play" series of "garage" scene Ferraris, were again appearing in retail stores like Toys-R-Us.

These are not going on display at all - far from it. For me, these models are significant as they remind me (as prev. blogged) of the 1/36 scale Corgi and Matchbox SuperKings of yesteryear. And more to the point, you can have a damn good play with them!

I don't know how many I will get - there are certain models like the Lambo Gallardo Police I will just avoid - no need.

I will put individual blogs up n each of them rather than a mass picture-fest.

Stay tuned.

Opel Collection.....quick update

it has been a while since I last posted a blog on the Opel Collection that is available in Switzerland and Germany.

I have added tow further models to the collection - the Opel Kadett D GT/E and the Opel Omega B MV6.

Over the next two weeks the next releases are the Opel Admiral B and the Opel Rekord B Coupe - both I have ordered on reserve -

I will be taking some pictures today for the aforementioned, and I will blog about the latest additions to The Garage hopefully next week.

Shame that Eaglemoss Publications has not updated their website with further updates.